AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Let yourself go, Natalie,” Alessa encourages, her breath warm against my ear. “Enjoy the moment.”
I can do that.
I can spend the night pretending, and then I can shed the glittery facade off and crawl back into the skin of Special Agent Miller, who knows right from wrong. Who doesn’t ache for things that could ruin her.
I can spend one night in Alessa’s world full of sweet poison without succumbing.
Right?
She draws me close, our hips swaying in sync, guided by the primal beat. Her movements hold a fluid sensuality, and she guides my hands to her hips as we fall into the rhythm.
“You know, you’ve quite captivated me, Natalie,” she murmurs into my ear. Her leg brushes between mine again, our bodies pressed flush. “But I don’t seem to have caught your attention in quite the same way. You look everywhere else but at me.”
Shit. “Just…taking it all in,” I say over the music. “I’ve never seen anything like this place.”
That’s true enough. Though would Natalie Moreau, socialite from the south of France, really not have seen anything like it before?
But it seems flattery is the way to go, because Alessa smiles, satisfied. “Yes, the Ruby is rather singular, isn’t it?”
We stay there dancing, then drinking—I give in to a few cocktails—then dancing again, and Alessa does her level best to, well,seduceme.
It’s a strange feeling.
Me, Natalie Miller, from the bad side of town, the girl with mousy hair who was always painfully worried about her crushes on girls until she grew into herself, really claimed her identity…or thought she had…
But that’s not who Alessa is seducing, it occurs to me. Not at all.
No. Alessa de Luca wants billionaire bombshell Natalie Moreau.
We’re on the dance floor again when the song changes and I step back, the space allowing me to breathe again. “I need a break. Do you?”
Surprise flickers in her eyes before she smooths her features. “Sure.”
While we’re at the bar, just like last time, Alessa is approached by a few different women. Each time, she introduces them to me, and lets them know that I’m new to the city. And each time, they hand me a card and ask me to make sure I call them, they’d love to network, perhaps I can spare some time for coffee?
It’s not until the fourth time I shove a business card into my bag that I realize what she’s doing. “You’re making friends for me,” I say in surprise.
She gives me a puzzled little smile, her nose wrinkling up.
“You’re helping me make connections,” I try again, sounding a little less like a forlorn five-year-old.
Her smile softens and she shrugs, like it’s no big deal. “It can be hard to make new friends in this city. One thing the Ruby is good for is finding people you might connect with. And besides…” She leans in. “I know what it’s like to be lonely.”
Something passes between us then. Some strange, shared understanding, and I feel like, despite all the makeup and the sparkly dress and the heels, Alessa de Luca is seeing therealme. The girl who always felt a little awkward. Still does.
The girl who always wanted the most popular girl in school toseeher. That’s what it feels like…
I’m beingseen.
I suck in a breath. “It’s getting a little late,” I say. “I should probably get going.”
Alessa’s smile drops. “Late? It’s barely one!”
“I have meetings in the morning,” I say vaguely.
She looks at me for a long moment, and then smiles her brilliant smile. “Of course. Let me walk you out.”
And she does. We approach the front entrance this time, the pulsing beat fading behind us. At the door, she pauses, and I search for something to say that will allow me entrance here again.
